The Secrets of Firefox about:config

jcatcw writes "While Firefox is very customizable, many of its settings aren't in the Options. Each setting is named and stored as a string, integer, or Boolean in a file called prefs.js and accessed via about:config from the nav bar. Computerworld provides instructions on 20 tweaks for speeding up page loads, making tabs behave, reducing memory drain, and generally making the interface act the way you want it to. Customization also comes through the must-have FF extensions (but be sure to skip these)."

Comments

I just want

[Anonymous Coward]

I just want to make it stop going to Google when it's looking up a URL. If it can't find it in DNS, I want it to return a 404, not ask some fsking company where they think I should go.

I tried changing every entry that mentions google.com, and sometimes it still queries. WTF!

Re:I just want

[rustalot42684]

IIRC, Firefox gets ~$50 * 10^6 (US) from Google every year because of stuff like that, and while I'd like there to be an option for that, having a steady supply of money from Google with which to pay developers results in a higher quality app. I'd rather have a high-quality (FLOSS) alternative to the dreaded Internet Exploder than not being able to set a default search provider for the address bar*.

*NOTE: I don't actually know if you can or not; Google works for me so I've never investigated it.

Camino?

[commodoresloat]

I still use Camino, a Mozilla-based browser for OS X. Is there a similar guide to configuring Camino options or do most of these work as is?

Re:A bigger question

[jj110888]

Perhaps these tweaks are hidden because they are *not* worth doing?

Re:Why aren't these real options?

[telso]

If you don't want to lose CPU cycles (and therefore battery power) from using your browser, why are you on Slashdot?

Re:While it's nice..

[smittyoneeach]

http://subversion.tigris.org/faq.html#in-place-imp ort
Install Subversion, and use it on your config files.
Subversion: it's not just for projects anymore.

Re:Hacking Firefox

[maxume]

Each additional option in the UI makes it harder to find all the other options. There is a straightforward way to access them for people that insist on it. It's a good compromise.

Re:A bigger question

[Anonymous Coward]

I disagree with the fact that they aren't worth doing. Ever since I upgraded to the newest version of FF, I've disliked how the tab-closing buttons are now on each tab, rather than having one at the end of all of the tabs like in previous versions. Being too stubborn to downgrade, I suffered through it. TFA showed how to set it back to the old way, plus a couple different ways. Definately worth doing and not in the options GUI.

Delete all cookies when browser is closed

[Hyperhaplo]

Consider all of the sites you go to in a single day.
How many do you actually need cookies for? Right. A handful.
The default behaviour, given how the technology is abused these days, should be to delete all cookies and purge the cache when the browser closes - except for the sites specified by the user.

It still irks me that IE (yes, we have to use it at work) still doesn't have an option for 'delete all cookies on exit' - but it is perfectly capable of clearing the rest of the cache.

I agree that the option to accept from originating site is good, but these days I don't care. Either way the cookies are purged every day.

Documentation

[DaveV1.0]

My question is simple: Is there good, concise documentation of the about:config page and it's options?

If yes, where is it and is there an an easy why to find it?

If no, why not? If this is all about choice, should people be able to learn about their choices?